The Opera Machine

Seinfeld emoji, fashion's World Cup team, an artist's secret swimming pool and more in our weekly look at the web

Westminster, England’s Royal Opera House is hoping to change the societal misconceptions that surround opera with The Opera Machine. Offering a unique behind-the-scenes look at their production of Wagner’s classic “Die Walküre,” the online page shows that opera is much more than a couple of people singing on stage. Hear the deputy stage manager call cues, see a close-up of the horns in the orchestra, …

Cool Hunting Video: Alex Reben

An alumni of MIT's Media Lab and NASA, this artist applies his engineering skills to create robots

In a room piled with resistors, circuit boards and projects in various states of completion, we spoke with talented artist and engineer Alex Reben about his body of work. Reben—an alumni of MIT’s Media Lab and NASA—has moved away from his traditional line of work to apply his engineering expertise to his art. Often exploring the blurred lines of human-machine interaction, Reben’s work is incredibly …

New York på Dalsländska Exhibition

Swedish designer John-Michael Ekeblad presents furniture made of wood salvaged from a local 19th century cottage

As a designer, John-Michael Ekeblad has long been interested in repurposing and recycling materials from the deteriorating urban landscape. Whether in his native Sweden or adopted home of NYC, Ekeblad finds nostalgia in such rubble, yearning to connect the past and present while preserving the materials’ original personality—most often in furniture form. For his most recent project, Ekeblad was invited to host a solo show …